Python – Get relative path of all files and subfolders in a directory

Question

I am searching for a good way to get relative paths of files and (sub)folders within a specific folder.

For my current approach I am using os.walk(). It is working but it does not seem “pythonic” to me:

myFolder = "myfolder"
fileSet = set() # yes, I need a set()

for root, dirs, files in os.walk(myFolder):
    for fileName in files:
        fileSet.add(root.replace(myFolder, "") + os.sep + fileName)

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

Asked By: vobject

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Source

Answer 1

Thats probably the best way to be honest: you can use glob to go a certain number of layers down, but if you need it to be recursive you have to walk.

Answered By: jkp

Answer 2

What you are doing is perfectly right and I think should be done that way, BUT just for the sake of alternative, here is an attempt

import os

def getFiles(myFolder):
    old = os.getcwd()
    os.chdir(myFolder)

    fileSet = set()

    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(""):
        for f in files:
            fileSet.add(os.path.join(root, f))

    os.chdir(old)
    return fileSet

Answered By: Anurag Uniyal

Answer 3

I think os.walk is the right choice here.
maybe root.replace(myFolder, "") should change to root.replace(myFolder, "", 1) to avoid potential sth. you know.
If you already get the files and (sub)folders, os.path.commonprefix worth a look too.

Answered By: sunqiang

Answer 4

myFolder = "myfolder"
fileSet = set() 

for root, dirs, files in os.walk(myFolder):
    for fileName in files:
        fileSet.add( os.path.join( root[len(myFolder):], fileName ))

Answered By: S.Lott

Answer 5

You can also use os.listdir() if you are just searching for an alternative to your solution.

But basically the logic will stay the same: iterate over the files – if directory, iterate through the subdirectory.

Answered By: user147995

Answer 6

Use os.path.relpath(). This is exactly its intended use.

import os
root_dir = "myfolder"
file_set = set()

for dir_, _, files in os.walk(root_dir):
    for file_name in files:
        rel_dir = os.path.relpath(dir_, root_dir)
        rel_file = os.path.join(rel_dir, file_name)
        file_set.add(rel_file)

Note that os.path.relpath() was added in Python 2.6 and is supported on Windows and Unix.

Answered By: Newtonx

Answer 7

I did it like this:

import pathlib

def find_path_to_file(file_name):
    globa_path = pathlib.Path.home()
    for path in sorted(globa_path.rglob('*')):
            if str(file_name) in str(path):
                return str(path)

Answered By: Bartol

Python – Get relative path of all files and subfolders in a directory

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